* Shale production is not nimble, and OPEC can always profit at lower prices. Saudi Arabia can profit at $12/barrel. Shale is barely profitable at $40/barrel, and needs $50-60/barrel to really be worth the production.
* Gasoline cars are twice as expensive per mile to operate compared to electric cars. EV drivetrains last forever. The internal combustion engine is not long for this world (witness how badly VW had to cheat to pass emissions standards). OPEC participants can't balance their budgets at current market prices, so the price must go up, making EVs even more attractive. [2]
Mind you, I don't really care if you agree with me. We're already on a trajectory; I'm simply describing that trajectory.
[1] http://www.utilitydive.com/news/how-wind-and-solar-plan-to-t...
[2] https://avt.inl.gov/sites/default/files/pdf/fsev/costs.pdf (warning: pdf)
Have you ever worked with actual machinery? Electric motors can fail just as well, the windings might break or burn out, the bearings wear out, there is still some gearing in the car as well
Solar and wind is ruinously expensive (just look at german energy prices before and afrer start of their retarded experiment - and remember they pretty much drove out a lot of energy intensive heavy industry to China)
Do you really think its a good thing energy prices go negative because of generators that provide miniscule amounts od total required energy?
Tesla warranties their battery pack and electric motors for 8 years/unlimited miles. Their CTO has stated they expect 10-15 year lifetimes, minimum, from their stationary storage battery packs. Existing Model S data has shown their battery packs only degraded 6% over ~180k miles of use. The drivetrain will last the entire lifetime of the vehicle.
Electric motors are more reliable than internal combustion engines. Full stop.
Wind is cheaper than all other energy sources. Solar is still expensive, but that's what subsidies are for.
Yes, it's absolutely fine for energy prices to go negative when renewables are over producing.
Simple math gives you an estimate for the max run time of a gasoline engine.
200,000 miles / 30 mph => 6600 hours.
So after 7000 hours of run time a gasoline engine is shot. Industrial electric motors easily achieve run times that are ten times that number as do the power electronics needed to drive them.
[1] Partial lubrication means you have metal to metal contact. Full lubrication ala a pressure fed journal bearing is a different story. There the bearing surfaces are separated by a film of fluid. These types of bearing can an do last for decades.
This is not true.
Wind is only competitive in very specific environments, and there are usually tax-breaks etc. hidden in the process.
Solar will not be competitive in most areas of the US for a very long time.
You must be young.
I remember hearing similar stuff 20 years ago. Then 10 years ago. "In just a few years it will be profitable".
Not in most places.
You want a quote - here's one from the CBC:
"The province will drop the guaranteed rate for small rooftop solar projects from 80.2 cents per kilowatt hour to 54.9 cents, while larger solar installations will get between 34.7 cents and 44.5 cents a kWh."
The Canadian government pays citizens 80 cents a Kw/h to generate solar electricity.
They sell it back to consumers at about 12 cents a Kw/h.
So you tell me with a straight face how they're going to get '80 cents Kw/h' down to '12 cents Kw/h' in 2 years?
Or even 10.
Not going to happen in most of North American for a very long time.
> Or even 10.
You put the solar panels on your own roof.